Friday, February 19, 2010

Tonight, I shall share with you on the use of personification in essay writing. The word "personification" comes from the word "person".

For example, I have once written a blogpost about "Teacher of the Night". Something like "Unlike most teachers who eschew night activities, she encourages me to go and enjoy what the night has to offer." The teacher that I am talking about refers to "Night Safari". I ended the blog with "After a night filled with actions, I may be late for work tomorrow. But I am sure, she will understand." Get the idea?

By using this concept, you can hold the readers in suspense of what you are talking about and draw parallel between the concept that you are talking about and the "person" who is very familiar to the readers. This concept brings fun to the readers and also help to understand better the concept that you are introducing. Cool, right?

Here is another example which on Chinese New Year, which I have just coached my boy.

Chinese New Year

Unlike many of my classmates, I only see him once a year. We will welcome him in our spick and span house. At the same time, we will also don on our new years, complete with megawatt smile.

My friend's name is Mr Chinese New Year. Every year, in the lead-up to the annual meeting, my mother will cluck around like a headless chicken. She will be busy with spring-cleaning and buying new year goodies. As for me, I will take a hard look at my old toys. I never fail to just dust away the dirt and pack them back in a clear plastic bag. Hey, remember the saying "make new friends but keep the old".

Mr Chinese New Year is a chameleon. Last year, he was the intrepid bull. He will be the roaring tiger this year. To welcome him, my house is filled with new year decorations revolving around the tiger theme. I am also busily learning a new auspicious new year greeting "hu niu xing hao yun", meaning "have a prosperous tiger year". Here is also wishing you a happy new year!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

I must confess that I am not a professional photographer. I am not even interested in photography. However, like many people, my interest in photography is piqued by the handphone technology nowadays. The camera and video function are as ubiquitious amongst the phones like HDB flats dotting the Singapore island.

With a camera within my easy reach, I could not resist the temptation to just flash out my handphone and snap away. Here are some pictures taken at my family's recent trip to the Ferris Wheel during the Chinese New Year. I shall not talk too much. Afterall, a picture tells a thousand words...

Lion dance - A burst of cheery, orange colour greeted our eyes.

Alongside the loud and festive clapping of cymbals and beating drums filled the air.

Inside the capsule:

View from the capsule.

See it's another capsule!

Midway from the capsule.

At the top of the world - As the capsule rose to the highest point, we felt like we were on the top of the world looking, down on creations. And the only explanation was the marvel of mankind.

The centre of the Ferris Wheel was decorated with the Chinese character - the English equivalent of spring.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

This time of the year, I will remember my stay in the States. Thanksgiving will be in Oct. I cannot quite remember the month which Halloween falls in but it is around Sep/Oct and X'mas we all know that it is in Dec. In anyway, I am jotting down what that I can remember below.

The first thing that came to mind about Thanksgiving was Turkey. We knew it as the supermarkets would suddenly be overflowing with frozen turkeys. In terms of timing, it was quite close to the winter solstice where we would have daylight saving.

For Halloween, my boys loved the "trick or treat" and to dress up as monsters. My Singaporean friends who were Christians would send us a circular from their church clarifying that Halloween was a Celtic tradition and was not associated with Christianity. But it was fun to see my neighbours dressing up their houses with skeletons, spooky spikers, pumpkin head and the likes.

My landlord was a senior who told us that he had two children around the same age as me. My husband wished him Merry Christmas thinking that it should be the appropriate thing to do since we were in a foreign land. Guess what, he gave him a lecture. He told us that he was not a Christian. Only Christians have Merry X'mas. To tell a long story short, the lesson learnt is that we will not go wrong with "Happy Holidays!"

Chinese New Year was a forlorn season. If my memory did not fail me, it was not even a public holiday. On the eve of CNY, I will hook up the Internet camera to do video conferencing with my parents. Thereafter, we would join fellow Singaporeans at my hubby's university to have our own "reunion" dinner. With family and friends in Singapore, fellow Singaporeans became our de-facto next of kin.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Some pictures taken at the Airshow which we have visited. Btw the pictures looked fabulous but the weather was hot, hot, hot...

What a sight! Blue, vast sky jutxaposed against the emerald green sea water, with an island in between and some container ships dotting the sea.

Don't you love the white, fluffy clouds? They are like cotton candies. Hey, what is that little speck above the clouds? It is a plane. Oh! How I envy the pilot who must be having a bird's eye view of the surrounding from the top of the world.

This is a plane. Up, close and personal. The plane is a dream comes true for man who can now fly like a bird.

These are two fighter planes performing acrobatic acts in the sky. And it is not just the fellow airshow goers who are in awe of the performances. Some birds inspired by the airshow performance, imitate the planes and fly in some formation in the sky too! Or rather, this is how it appears to me.

Monday, February 15, 2010

I finally found the time to take photographs of the programme list which I have attended two months ago "Chalking it Up".

Here it is for sharing:

My apologies for the low resolution pictures. Basically, there are three sections to the above attached picture. The last perforated section is for the participants to tear it out and vote for the Best Prepared Speaker, Evaluator and Table Topics Speaker.

The above is printed on the second sheet of the same paper.

Here is another tip which I learnt from the COT training which I attended about two to three weeks ago. Very often, our club members who are also performing leadership roles at the meeting, forget to approach a fellow toastmaster to be their evaluator. One easy solution is to assign toastmaster as evaluator (subject to his/her agreement of course). In this way, the club members will be evaluated. At the same time, toastmasters who are the evaluators would be informed in advance and also recognised for their contribution. Try it for size at your next toastmasters' meeting!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

This is the fun version of my earlier more circumspect article.================================

I wince in pain as a lady in the little black dress hit me hard on my right leg with her latest purchase of board game at 20 per cent discount.

Our legs are so important when we do shopping at Orchard area especially during sales. People throng the Premier shopping district of Singapore. There are queues everywhere - people pack around the silver metal containers where the clothes are on "lelong", people queuing up at the changing room, and more people queuing up at the cashier. And when you are done with your bags of war chest, you join the taxi queue.

Surely, my bruise is worth more than the $20 buck that the lady would have saved from the board game. Worse, there is not even a word of sorry, she just continues to make her dash to the next shop to fill her stash of good buys. I give her a cold stare and at that moment, I really wish that eyes could kill.

Recently, I have ditched shopping in the upmarket Orchard area for suburban shopping. Instead of daytime shopping, I now prefer to bask in the moonlight. Somehow, with the cool and gentle night breeze, people become more considerate. There is no upsetting crowd chants unlike in the city area. In its place, the uplifting crowd cheers fill the air.

While there is crowd, it is a more healthy sort which I do not need to be constantly on the lookout for shoppers banging my legs with their shopping bags. Everyone is happily and orderly picking up a bargain for at the little kiosks at the foyer area of town centre. A number are touting the latest fad and style fashion apparels, assessories such as belts, earrings and bags. Some are clearing branded rejects at rock bottom prices. You can also get cheap thrills for little children which tie in with the different times of the year - lanterns during the Lantern Festivals, or the newest kids on the block.

When the clock strikes 8.30 pm, the salesgirl at nearby bakery shop will shout in her hoarse, loud voice of the markdown prices of the buns. Bargain hunters could take their pick from the fresh array of buns for a good half an hour before the shop shutters come down.

Besides buns, shoppers could also choose from a plethora of eating establishments that caters to different budgets. There is the everyday kopi-tiam style Koufu, Crystal Jade Chinese Restaurant and a couple of other restaurants to choose from depending on what you fancy For those on the move, they will also be spoilt for a choice with household fast-food chains such as MacDonalds, Burger King, KFC; as well as local one like Old Chang Kee dotting the suburban shopping area.

I love shopping in the suburban area especially the one near my place. Not only can I get the things which I need all within close proximity, it is also very easy on my pocket. Especially for fashion items, yes, the price does reflect the quality. But the clothing and assessories could last till the next wave in fashion sweeps in.

At the same time, I feel a sense of homecoming when I am at my town shopping unlike in the city. Maybe, it is because I can easily catch a bus home. Or even if I were to miss the last bus, I could always take a lazy stroll in the cool and serene night under the starry sky. No need to spend more money on taxi or to queue.

Oh yes, legs are equally important when we are shopping in the heartland. And no, there was no nasty knocks from shoppers to beat the queue.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

How would you coach your child to write about himself or herself? I cannot stand it when my boy started the passage with "I am P. I am xx years old and am a student with xxx school". Boring!

So I sit down and discuss with him what he wants to write. What is so distinctive about him and the result is below.

After that, he was grinning from ear-to-ear and pleased with himself with his little piece of write-up.

==========================

Myself

Imagine a stick with a round right curve at the top. This is the letter "P". The first letter of my name. I am PL. Like the letter "P, I have a round big head and am lean.

I wear a multi-coloured spectacles with streaks of orange, green, white and black. As with the colours of my spectacles, I have a lot of feelings - sometimes happy, excited but mostly sad. This is especially when my parents disallow me to play boardgames all day long.

Of course, I do not play boardgames by myself. I play the games with my best friend and brother R. R is as thin as a stick. Even though he eats ice-cream like a pig, he eats his meals like a bird. He is as cheeky as a chimpanzee but he is also very sporting. That is why I am happy to play with him. I will be happier if my parents could let us play boardgames more often.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

The night breeze is cool and gentle. There is no upsetting crowd chants unlike in the city area. In its place, the uplifting crowd cheers fill the air.

Everyone is happily picking up a bargain for at the little kiosks at the foyer area of town centre. A number are touting the latest fad and style fashion apparels, assessories such as belts, earrings and bags. Some are clearing branded rejects at rock bottom prices. You can also get cheap thrills for little children which tie in with the different times of the year - lanterns during the Lantern Festivals, or the newest kids on the block.

When the clock strikes 8.30 pm, the salesgirl at nearby bakery shop will shout in her hoarse, loud voice of the markdown prices of the buns. Bargain hunters could take their pick from the fresh array of buns for a good half an hour before the shop shutters come down.

Besides buns, shoppers could also choose from a plethora of eating establishments that caters to different budgets. There is the everyday kopi-tiam style Koufu, Crystal Jade Chinese Restaurant and a couple of other restaurants to choose from depending on what you fancy For those on the move, they will also be spoilt for a choice with household fast-food chains such as MacDonalds, Burger King, KFC; as well as local one like Old Chang Kee dotting the suburban shopping area.

I love shopping in the suburban area especially the one near my place. Not only can I get the things which I need all within close proximity, it is also very easy on my pocket. Especially for fashion items, yes, the price does reflect the quality. But the clothing and assessories could last till the next wave in fashion sweeps in.

At the same time, I feel a sense of homecoming when I am at my town shopping unlike in the city. Maybe, it is because I can easily catch a bus home. Or even if I were to miss the last bus, I could always take a lazy stroll in the cool and serene night under the starry sky. Ahh... heartland is truly where the heart belongs.

Monday, February 1, 2010

This year is a very special year for me. It is 2010. I am still alive and kicking 10 years since the beginning of a new millennium.

The last ten years were a sinuous path. In 2000, I started to pursue my MBA on a part-time basis. Barely two months in the course, I found that I was pregnant with my first child. I decided to continue with my course as the timing was immaculate. Based on the Expected Delivery Date, my boy would be born after the final examination and I could nurse back to health during the two months term break.

Things went accordingly to plan mostly and the next few years of my life was without much fanfare. It was until 2003 when the unexpected news that I was carrying my second child came. While unexpected to a certain extent, the timing was almost perfect - I would be able to complete my studies before giving birth. Though my second boy arrived slightly earlier, I have buffered time for that.

I supposed planning is part of me. Then came 2005 where I took a one-year time-off from my career to be a SAHM in a foreign land. Though I was then not holding a full-time job, my hands were full from taking care of the two young toddlers and I could fully appreciate the term "terrible two" as my younger boy was then approaching. But my mind was more peaceful as it was uncluttered with no work to think of. On hindsight, this was a best time of my life in this millennium and it changed my perspective a great deal.

When I returned to Singapore again, I was more independent. I managed to weave in a lot of things which I had wanted to do but never ever to find time to do. The top three on my list which I have successsfully conquered are 1. to have a blog; 2. to learn piano; and 3. to work on my public speaking skills. Besides these three, I have also managed to establish a regular exercise routine and be a better cook and mother.

What's next in 2010? I will like to improve on my piano, public speaking and writing skills. Incidentially, when I was clearing my stuff the past few months, I saw books which I would copy down useful phrases to beef up my limited vocabulary dating as far back as 1996! As for learning the piano, I have always wanted to learn to play the guitar since I was a teenager. The second-hand guitar has survived decades of spring cleaning and shifting of houses. In the case of public speaking, I recalled that I was on stage telling a story when I was in primary school. In a sense, sometimes, we already know what our interests are but we need to traverse to find out what we really love.